Battlestar Galactica #41: Six Degrees of Separation

"No more Mister Nice Gaius!" (groan)

SO SAY WE ALL: A Model 6 comes aboard to accuse Baltar of treason.

REVIEW: This is the episode where all of Baltar's worst fears come true. He's accused of being a traitor (but not in the way he was), and on a personal level, everyone shows they actually thought he was shifty all along (Roslin shows her politician skills when she walks in back at the press conference). The twist is that his accuser is a Six, hidden on the fleet all this time as "Shelley Godfrey". The "God" in that name should be noted, as Six Degrees is really about converting Baltar to the Cylon's religion. Oh sure, there's the Cylon plan to disgrace Baltar, and do so badly, so he can seem like he was merely a victim of a Cylon plot and solidify his place in the fleet so he can better weather such accusations in the future. That implies that the Six in his head, who strangely disappears just as the physical Six is about to show up, is in communication with other Sixes and is NOT a part of his psyche. But these events put Baltar on his knees, praying to the Cylons' One God for freedom and safety. And suddenly, the plot is exposed, Godfrey has vanished, mental Six is back, and he's freed. That relationship with God pays off, and he is a convert to more than the Cylon plan (we'll see how strong his faith is). THAT'S what this was really about, wasn't it? The religious metaphor I think extends to the whole of BSG, which is about 13 Colonies (polytheism) abandoning their system and coming together as one to seek one "lost", lone Tribe of Man (monotheism). I think there's evidence to support that his personal Six is really an Angel from the One God, manipulating events in a way that seems evil, but eventually ensures the survival of humanity.

The Cylon/Divine plan, a complex chess game, stands in stark contrast with the messiness of humanity. Baltar, arguably one of the most intelligent people in the fleet, is on panic mode, smashing at buttons and throwing chairs in the hopes that the computer can't implicate him in genocide. He has a heart to heart with his only friend, Gaeta, who is trying to take a crap. None of his schemes have any way of succeeding, and don't, and anyone could have told him that, even himself. We also have the President collapsing because she abused her cancer meds, Billy letting that slip as HE goes into panic mode, and Kara failing at her physical rehab after mangling her knee on the planet. Tyrol can't get the Cylon raider to do anything. Boomer finds the word Cylon on her locker's mirror and panics (but is also increasingly willing to show her hand to the Chief and daring him to accuse her, cue weird stroking of the raider's wings). It's a big, big mess when it comes to humans (and "humans").

Even on Caprica - the function of which is to remind us just how few days have passed since the destruction of the Colonies, ony 24, which means it's all been one damn thing after another - we get a loud messy sex scene, in the rain, between Helo and Sharon. Sort of convenient that he had feelings for her all along, but not unbelievable. So this part of the Cylon plan advances, whatever it may be. And we see the red spine thing for the second (and last?) time, something I wish would have been explained. Maybe if Helo had then started having visions, we might say it's the Cylon implanting something into their sex partner, but that doesn't happen, does it?

CAPRICANADA: Helo and Sharon are running around Harbourview Park in Vancouver.

ALL THIS HAS HAPPENED BEFORE AND IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN: Baltar was also imprisoned on the original series, though for a longer time. Of course, his treason was never ambiguous.

HUMAN DEATH TOLL: The disappearance of Godfrey should count as one less human, so we're presumably down to 47,941. VERSIONS: Who wrote "Cylon" on Boomer's mirror? The Story So Far special that summarized the first two seasons said it was another crewmember, however in The Plan, Boomer believes she wrote it herself. I prefer the latter explanation. A deleted scene shows it was Lee who asked Tigh to visit Kara and goad her into getting back to work.REWATCHABILITY: Medium - While there's an interesting exploration of BSG's religious foundation, the episode is mostly idling on neutral. Baltar is a nervous nelly as he's always been. Starbuck repeats the beat of getting the raider to respond. The Caprica stuff is still moving very slowly. And the Cylon spy bit is a repeat from Litmus (with more kissing).